To not understand how anyone enjoys exercise??

[Baileysoncereal]

How do you motivate yourself to exercise when it’s horrible being out of breath and sweaty

I’m not moving around at work anymore (covid related furlough/unemployment) and after a few months, I’m really noticing a difference in how unfit I am and how easily I’m out of breath. I’ve tried a ton of sports, and there’s nothing I enjoy and I can never be bothered putting in the effort anyway
Eg. Why run if you can jog, why jog if you can walk.

I hate being sweaty, I hate being out of breath, I hate not being good at something and I love sitting on the couch and watching TV.
So how do you motivate yourself or even shock actually love exercising?!

Quick note to add - I know not everyone is in the position to pay for exercise, and I’m fortunate in that regard. In that case I’d use something else a motivator - so tell your partner / a friend that you’re committing to do this particular class, and if you don’t go, you have to cook dinner or something

I have no idea OP.

As soon as I feel my heart rate increase I start to panic. It's very unpleasant.

I have asthma which went undiagnosed as a child and young adult. I think the association now with oxygen hunger is too.strong and my brain almost forbids it.

I was an excellent gymnast as a child though somehow, but as an adult all excersise I've tried has been horrible.

twobrews if the issue is binge eating there’s a lot of free or low cost ‘self help’ content out there. I found Brain Over Binge and Never Binge Again useful. Still working on it!

Aches and pains etc do reduce significantly the more you exercise and until then are worth it for the health benefits.

DC/DP don’t NEED high calorie/low nutrition convenience foods.

[quote Twobrews]@Thehousejackbuilt
It makes me feel completely wiped out, if I go I'll try and go early enough to get back into bed for a sleep afterwards. My husband can't understand it, he runs and is buzzing for the rest of the day!
My legs ache a lot, which just seems to make everything a struggle.
Then mentally I struggle to think I have to keep feeling like this and feel crap that it's a never ending cycle. Being unfit makes me feel terrible but trying to get fitter makes me feel terrible.

I've given it a good go, I stuck with a women's running group for just under two years. I improved the distance I could run but it never felt easier and I the tiredness and pain never went away and I didn't loose a single pound either which was demotivating. Then the leader changed to a bloke who was total PE teacher with a whistle, class favourites and plenty of 'motivational' quotes so I stopped going.
I've recently tried jeffing which does help with the pain a little but not the exhaustion.

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This happens to me as well. As I've already said, it gets harder and harder and part of that is that it takes me longer each day to recover from the exercise. Once I have recovered I do feel better but often it takes me several hours for the tiredness and aching to wear off. This does NOT improve with fitness and seems to happen more and more as time goes by.

You need to find something you enjoy. I hated sports at school, I'm not a natural athlete, I'm short, asthmatic, have issues with my feet that weren't diagnosed until my early 20s, & I'm slightly hypermobile. And I wear glasses so playing any kind of sport in the rain is absolutely out! But, I always loved cycling when I was younger (& braver on the roads!), & I still enioy walking, & I really enjoy the fitness games on the Nintendo Wii /Switch, especially the cardio boxing type games. I'll slog it out on the cross trainer at the gym (when I can afford the membership) but TBH it's a trial & I can only get through it if they have tv screens & headphones.

I discovered reformer Pilates a year ago and I’m addicted. It’s the first time I’ve ever enjoyed exercise. It’s not great for cardio so not too sweaty But it has completely transformed by body and that alone keeps me going. Gutted they’re closed at the moment

@Twobrews and @bumblingbovine49 have a look at Postural Orthostatic Tacychardia Syndrome (POTS). A friend of mine was diagnosed with this later in life and her reaction to exercise was exactly the same

I love being active when there's something enjoyable in it.

For example, I love hiking and long coastal walks for the scenery and fresh air. I love the occasional long cycle on the front with the dc because they enjoy it so much and because its fun. I enjoy swimming and have enjoyed random horseriding/
muddy assault course
/ zip wire experiences in the past few years.

However excersising for exercising's sake I hate. Pounding the pavement, going to the gym, swimming boring lengths, excerise classes...Yeuch. There's just no enjoyment in it for me and I can never motivate myself to it.

One more build it into your day trick - get off the bus / train one or two stops earlier than you need to and walk (briskly) the rest of the way. Might not be much help right now given covid!

With some sports there is a strong social aspect to exercising that can get you motivated. Others you can train to compete in amateur events, setting yourself a challenge, however big or small. You can sign up for a charity event where you’re motivated by the people who have donated as well as the cause. Strava (etc) is great as well to analyse your running / cycling etc. These are all ideas that can keep people motivated. You just have to find the thing that hooks you. Obviously the feeling afterwards is worth it but sometimes you need a psychological pull as well as a physical one. It doesn’t have to be just about losing weight or maintaining a certain physique. That can just be a bonus.

@Twobrews @bumblingbovine49 or overtraining eg doing too much too soon. I also started feeling like this a few years ago and had some blood tests, it turned out I was anaemic.

"if it hurts. Good"

Massive turn off for me and very not relevant to what I enjoy doing

If it hurts it's cos I fell off my bike or damaged myself in some way. If it hurts it means I can't perform as well as I want. I imagine the message is a bit more complex than that but to distill it to such a simple point is not positive

I don't understand how you can hate "exercise".

So your only pleasure in life is sitting or lying down and doing nothing?

I don't buy it. Everything is exercise. You just need to find the right fit.

We live in a weird world that we have so little to do that any physical activity is deemed a chore, or "exercise", as opposed to normal life.

if the issue is binge eating there’s a lot of free or low cost ‘self help’ content out there. I found Brain Over Binge and Never Binge Again useful. Still working on it!
Thanks I'll have a look into those and best wishes to you with the healing process.

Aches and pains etc do reduce significantly the more you exercise and until then are worth it for the health benefits.
Honestly I don't think for me it ever will, I was exactly the same when I was healthy weight and at my fittest doing body pump, swimming and Pilates several times a week.

I'm very physically active, at least more than any of my friends. I run, cycle, do hit classes, swim all intensively. I hate it every time.

There are occasions when I'm at my fittest when I actually enjoy a run, but most of the time it's a case of pushing myself to the end.

I do it because of the feeling when it's over. The endorphins kick in, I feel proud of myself for having pushed myself against my bad side telling me to slush on the sofa instead and I feel revived 2ith energy, which I lack a lot of.

My OH actually enjoys the feeling of pushing yourself to its maximum. I don't get this. I don't enjoy it at all, but the pain is worth the rewards.

David Goggins is pretty motivating on this stuff
“If it hurts.Good”

Oh god, he sounds like a macho fitness nut (a retired United States Navy SEAL, ultramarathon runner, ultra-distance cyclist, triathlete) and I find that so off putting. What on earth is so motivating about pain!? It’s certainly something that most sane people try and avoid. Plus I don’t find people like him, who by the sound of it never hated exercise or lacked motivation, helpful. What I find useful is hearing from people who, like me, have had awful experiences of school PE lessons, yet have found things that worked for them whilst acknowledging that they also find it a constant struggle to keep at it. Who have never had the “endorphin rush” no matter how many miles they’ve run. I’d like to find a fitness trainer who will admit they’d rather do fuck all and eat cake so I could relate to them, not a gym bunny who was sporty at school.

Sorry, these threads always bring out my inner defeatist (yet I’m normally OK and optimistic) ☹️

I hate exercise. I realised early on that the endorphins and the "But the buzz that you get immediately afterwards keeps you coming back for more." That usual describes, I don't get.
I wish more people would understand that not everyone gets them.

I hate it when it’s happening not gonna lie. But after I always feel good

ok my tips for making it bearable and going from total couch potato to relative fittie-

1. do it first thing. Put out your clothes the night before. Have a big drink of water and a poo before you start.
2. start super slow - like literally running and walking for 5 mins, or do just the warm up and the first two reps of each task on an exercise dvd, so you learn the routine. Make it habitual and not at all difficult or sweaty for the first week or so. Your aim is low.
3. Do beginners pilates or similar for 5-10 min per day. You WILL injure yourself if you just throw yourself into cardio and recovery is a massive bummer and frustrating. Get your core right so you don't later get niggling shin splints or weird aches in one leg muscle or blisters or whatever. It also stops you getting headaches and tense muscles.
4. After a couple of weeks, push it a bit. Build in mental counterbalance to the scary bits. Eg I'm worried about being far from home and all tired and sweaty?- Do 3 circuits of the tiny park near your house, or twice round the block, whatever, so you can always stop if you really need to. Worried you can't keep going? - remind yourself nobody knows how far you've run, you might be warming down at the end of a 10k for all they know. So if you stop and walk, do it with intention. It's part of your training plan. i have literally walked 20 steps and jogged 20 steps for 10 minutes, just to restart.
5. Have a simple non-faffy place to keep your trainers and stuff, don't make life hard by doing a massive wash or complicated kit stuff each time.

6. Get a good sports bra and a nice long loose top to go over wobbly bits. You definitely look sportier than you think!

I’m the opposite, I absolutely love exercise. I always remember as well, your brain gives in before your body, you really can push that little bit more if you put your mind to it.

My favourites are playing rugby, weights, running. They’re the three things I enjoy the most, but I also love cycling, swimming, tennis (but I am rubbish at it), yoga etc.

My partner doesn’t like exercise, he does it as knows he has to to remain healthy, but its more of a chore that needs doing. He is pro me exercising as it gets me from under his feet, it does however mean he is subjected to me boring on about my split etc when I’m done.

I've still got a sore ankle today and can't do my usual exercise. I am genuinely missing it - and this from someone who did none and hated it/breathlessness/sweatiness with a passion just like you do OP until last summer. Its different when you can control those things, unlike back in PE class.

Another thing I worked out was that I'm prone to silent acid reflux, and in the very old days when I found it hard to breathe after exercise, it was almost definitely because I'd set it off. I didn't know how long to wait after food or what foods to eat. So that's just another one to keep an eye on if you get breathless at times.

@heseesyouwhenyouaresleeping and what if your greatest pleasure is reading a good book? Or watching films? Craft? Board games? Knitting? Model painting? Computer games? Art? There are a ton of pleasures and hobbies that aren’t particularly active! There’s no point in shaming people for not loving active stuff... especially since the OP is aware she needs to be more active and is trying to work out how to change that!

The trick is to accept that it will be shit for 3 ish months until you build up your fitness and won't feel like you are dying.

I did couch to marathon in a year and the 1st 2 months were HELL. But I run everyday now.

I reckon I enjoy it 60% of the time.. But its getting back, feeling accomplished and being able to eat guilt free that makes it worth it.

Just ignore how you feel about it and reassess in March 👍

My exercise is strength training and I love it. Unsporty fat kid etc, now nothing beats adding muscle and gaining strength.
Motivation is fickle and will let you down, do it despite motivation.

Don't know where you're based op, but would gladly teach you how!